Herbert Hoover and the 1920 Election

 

 

Although associated with the Wilson administration due to his relief efforts in Europe and as head of the United States Food Administration during the War, Herbert Hoover had studiously avoided declaring himself a Republican or a Democrat.  He was hopeful that one of the two major parties might draft him as their presidential nominee in 1920.  On March 6, 1920 Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor met with Hoover in an attempt to convince him to run as a Democrat with Franklin Roosevelt as the Vice-Presidential nominee.  The Hoover-Roosevelt ticket of 1920 would make an excellent alternate history novel!  Hoover considered it, but by the end of March declared himself a Republican.  He and Franklin Roosevelt remained on friendly terms until they faced off against each other in the election of 1932.

The good fairies gave Hoover many gifts at his birth, but ability as a politician was not one of them.  His campaign for the Republican nomination for President came to nothing, with political professionals deriding it as an amateurish effort.  Accepting defeat with his usual unflappable grace, Hoover supported Harding after he was nominated by the GOP.